IN MEMORY OF

LEGENDARY ART DAWALD DIES AT 88

"Tri-City Herald, by Gale Metcalf, Herald staff writer" Friday, October 1, 1993

Art Dawald, the legendary Richland Bomber basketball coach who generated some of the state's best teams spanning four decades, died Thursday.

Dawald died in Spokane at the age of 88.

Dawald and the Bombers were synonymous during his coaching career that ended in 1970. His teams were feared -- and respected -- from one corner of the state to the other.

Dawald had a 406-149 record at Richland and took the Bombers to the state tournament 16 times. Dawald's teams were 225-54 in the Big Nine Conference.

Dawald came to Richland in 1947 as a 42-year-old veteran teacher and coach coming off back-to-back state Class B basketball championship teams at Colfax.

By the time he closed out his high school coaching career in 1970 with a 51-50 win over Central Valley at the regionals portion of the state tournament, Dawald was a legendary figure in high school basketball around the state.

The Richland Bomber gym was affectionately renamed Art Dawald Gymnasium after Dawald retired from coaching and teaching at what was then Columbia High School in Richland during the decades of the 1940's, 1950's, 1960's, and 1970's.

In 1975, he was inducted in the Washington State Basketball Hall of Fame. He was honored with an "Art Dawald Appreciation Day" by former players and residents of Richland in 1967.

The 1956 team became the first Tri-Cities high school squad to break the century mark, posting a 101-65 win over Hermiston. The team placed third at state.

In 1957 came one of the best, if not the best, of his Bomber teams. Led by the likes of brothers Norris and C. W. Brown, the Bombers swept to a 20-0 regular season record.

In the district championship, Wapato, led by John Douglas and Richard Juarez, beat Richland 53-51. The Bombers qualified for the state tournament through the consolation round. Two one-point losses at the hands of Tacoma schools, Lincoln and Stadium, left the Bombers with just three losses by a total of four points in 27 games. The Bombers finished seventh.

Next year's team may have been the crowning point of the Dawald era. The team was led by the returning C. W. Brown, and 6-foot-6 John Meyers. Losing two close early non-conference games in Spokane, the Bombers swept through the rest of the regular season unbeaten.

At state, the Bombers knocked off both Lincoln of Seattle, unbeaten for two seasons and two-time defending state champions, and Anacortes. Anacortes had been state runner-up the two previous years. After a semifinal win, Dawald's Bombers met Lewis and Clark of Spokane in an all-east final. That Dawald-coached team won the first of three state boys basketball championships 58-52.

All-state players like Chuck Curtis (55), Norris Brown (56 and 57), John Meyers (58), C. W. Brown (58), Theartis Wallace (62), Ray Stein (63 and 64) and Denny Duncan (66) led the Bombers to nine trophies at state. During Dawald's tenure, Richland won one title, finished third five times, fourth once, fifth once and seventh once.

Peep Piippo of Richland, who played on the 1940 NCAA championship team at Oregon and a longtime coach at Chief Joseph Junior High, said few coaches were a match for Dawald.

"From baseline to baseline in the game of basketball, I think he had everything covered for the high school kids," Piippo said. "There are a lot of high school coaches who think they can coach but Art was different. He really knew the game. The kids really came to play for Mr. Dawald."

Memorial Services will be held Saturday at 11:00 a.m. at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Richland.

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Alton Wenzell Klucas Dies at 90

On Friday, November 6, there is an obituary in the Tri-City Herald for, Alton Wenzell Klucas, age 90. Mr. Klucas taught at Carmichael from 1949 (the year it opened) until his retirement in 1970. He started teaching in 1930. Every year the Klucas' traveled by car to Minnesota to visit relatives. His last trip was 1997 at age 89.

Mr. Klucas had survived polio, colon cancer, and this past January, a broken hip. His wife of 57 years had preceded him in death. He is survived by and his children and his twin sister, Orpha. The funeral will be Monday, November 9, at 1:00 at West Side United Protestant Church, 615 Wright, Richland.

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Other Columbia High Alumni Who Have Passed Away

(Note: Individual Name Links are to Shirley Collings Haskins (66) Funeral Notice Page)

Faculty

John E. Allen ~ RHS Counselor/Bldg. Administrator/Principal (Ret.) ~ 9/13/08 - 6/3/00